Wild camping in the Lake District
Not as a right. Unlike Scotland, there is no general right to wild camp in the Lake District: to camp where it is allowed, use a campsite or get the landowner’s permission.
The short version. Some landowners, the National Trust among them, publish what they tolerate on the high fells. Following that is not permission, and a landowner can still ask you to move on. Where you do camp, their guidance shares six habits:
Checked against the three landowners’ own pages on 23 September 2026.
Can I camp here?
Open the one that describes where you mean to pitch. Not sure who owns the land? A map shows paths and access, not the owner. A campsite, or the landowner’s own permission, is the only certain way to stay.
On a campsite?
To camp where it is allowed, use a campsite or get the landowner’s permission. The National Trust runs four in the Lake District, at Langdale, Low Wray, Wasdale and Eskdale, and there are many more. Campsites
In a car park or on a roadside verge?
The National Park Authority says camping in car parks or on roadside verges is not allowed at any time. That is its stated policy; car parks have different owners and operators with their own terms, so check the terms of the one you are in, and for a night, use a campsite that takes vans. Our page on sleeping in your car covers vans and cars in detail.
In the forest at Whinlatter or Grizedale?
No. Forestry England says it does not allow camping or overnight stays in either forest or in any of their car parks.
With the landowner’s permission?
To camp where it is allowed, use a campsite or get the landowner’s permission. The National Park Authority says wild camping here is “technically not permitted without prior permission from the landowner”. It cannot give that permission on anyone else’s land.
On land the National Park Authority owns?
The National Park Authority does not permit camping on the land it owns.
In a valley, on a lake shore or on lowland ground?
The National Trust says valley, lakeshore and lowland camping is for campsites. Campsites
On National Trust fell, above the highest fell wall?
The National Trust describes what it tolerates on its own fells: above the highest fell wall, which it puts at roughly 400 m, away from towns, villages, buildings and lake shores. That is its guidance for its land, not a height above which camping is allowed.
Following that is not permission, and a landowner can still ask you to move on. If there are already two tents where you meant to stop, the National Trust’s guidance is to move on. The habits their guidance shares
Not sure whose land you are on?
If you do not know whose land you are on, you do not know whether camping there is tolerated. To camp where it is allowed, use a campsite or get the landowner’s permission.
Toilets. The National Park Authority says to go at least 30 m from water and bury it with a trowel. The National Trust asks you to leave no trace at all, including human waste. If you do not know whose land you are on, carry it out: that meets both.
What the landowners say
| Landowner | Where it applies | What they say about camping | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake District National Park Authority | The Lake District, and the land it owns | Wild camping is “technically not permitted without prior permission from the landowner”. It cannot give that permission on anyone else’s land, and it does not permit camping on the land it owns. It asks you to “stay for only one night”. Camping in car parks or on roadside verges “is not allowed at any time”. | Wild camping (opens in new tab)Read on 23 September 2026 |
| National Trust | Its own fells | What it will put up with: a pitch above the highest fell wall, which it puts at about 400 m, arriving at dusk and moving on at dawn. That is its guidance for its land, not a height above which camping is allowed. Valley, lakeshore and lowland camping is for campsites. | Wild camping in the Lake District (opens in new tab)Read on 23 September 2026 |
| Forestry England | Whinlatter and Grizedale: the forest and its car parks | It does not allow camping or overnight stays in the forest or any of the car parks. | Whinlatter Forest (opens in new tab)Grizedale Forest (opens in new tab)Read on 23 September 2026 |
Unlike Scotland, England has no general right to wild camp, and the Lake District is no exception. The Lake District National Park Authority says wild camping here is “technically not permitted without prior permission from the landowner”. It cannot give that permission on anyone else’s land, and it does not permit camping on the land it owns. It asks you to “stay for only one night”. It also says camping in car parks or on roadside verges “is not allowed at any time”, and that landowners have the legal right to ask you to break camp and move on.
The National Trust describes what it will put up with on its own fells: a pitch above the highest fell wall, which it puts at about 400 m, arriving at dusk and moving on at dawn. That is its guidance for its land, not a height above which camping is allowed.
If you camp on the fell
The landowners do not share one rule. Forestry England does not allow camping at Whinlatter or Grizedale at all; the National Park Authority does not permit it on its own land; the National Trust describes what it tolerates on its high fells. If you do not know whose land you are on, you do not know whether camping there is tolerated. Where you do camp, these are the habits their guidance shares:
- High, not low (the National Trust’s guidance for its fells). Above the highest fell wall, well away from towns, villages, buildings and lake shores. Valleys, lake shores and lowland ground are for campsites.
- One night. Arrive late, around dusk, and move on at dawn.
- Small. One or two tents. If there are already two tents where you meant to stop, the National Trust’s guidance is to move on.
- Away from water. Not next to streams or springs — someone drinks from them further down.
- No fire, no barbecue. A stove only, where the landowner allows one and there is no fire-risk warning in force.
- Nothing left. Carry out everything you carried in, including litter you find. The National Trust’s own line: if you need a bin or a toilet, this kind of camping is not for you.
When not to go
Some nights the answer is a campsite, whatever the landowners allow. Not when:
- the overnight forecast has strong wind or thunder in it (the mountain weather, today’s conditions);
- there is snow or ice, and your tent, sleeping bag and skills are not for winter (winter on the fells);
- the ground is so wet that pitching would tear it up;
- a long dry spell has made the risk of fire high;
- there are more of you than one or two tents;
- you have no campsite or way out if you are asked to move.
Our page on bad-weather days has the other ways to spend them.
Water for the night
Plan the water before the pitch. Camp away from streams and springs, because someone drinks from them further down, and treat any water you collect up there as untreated: the Lakes are grazed almost to the tops. Below a handful of old metal mines the becks also carry dissolved metals, which a backpacking filter cannot remove and boiling does not either. Our pages on drinking the water and metals in beck water say where. For one night, the simplest plan is often to carry what you need for the evening and the morning.
Toilets
Use the car-park toilet before you set off.
After that, the two landowners differ. The National Park Authority says to go at least 30 m from water and bury it with a trowel. The National Trust asks you to leave no trace at all, including human waste. If you do not know whose land you are on, carry it out: that meets both. The kit is small either way:
- a trowel, for the Park Authority’s 30 m rule;
- a sealable bag for used paper and wipes, which never go in the ground;
- a waste bag for carrying it all out;
- hand gel.
Think about where the water goes, too: do not choose a spot where anything runs down into a beck (Water for the night).
What if…?
What if I am asked to move?
Pack up and move. The National Park Authority says landowners have the legal right to ask you to break camp and move on, and following a landowner’s published guidance is not permission to stay.What if someone is already where I meant to stop?
Move on. If there are already two tents where you meant to stop, the National Trust’s guidance is to move on.What if it is getting late and I have not found anywhere?
That is what the campsite or the walk out is for, so have one before you set off. Lateness is not a reason to pitch lower down: the National Trust says valley, lakeshore and lowland camping is for campsites, and the National Park Authority says camping in car parks or on roadside verges is not allowed at any time.What if the weather turns in the night?
Know your way off before you pitch — the route you would take down in the dark — and keep your headtorch, waterproofs and map where you can reach them without unpacking. Read the overnight mountain forecast before you set off: a night it calls windy is a night for a campsite.What if I cannot tell whose land it is?
Then you do not know whether camping there is tolerated, and one landowner’s guidance does not cover another’s land. Use a campsite.
Before you leave the car
- You know whose land you mean to camp on, and what they say (Can I camp here?).
- You have read the overnight mountain forecast.
- You have a campsite, or a way out, if you cannot stay.
- You are carrying your water, or know where you will collect it and how you will treat it.
- A stove, not a fire.
- A toilet kit: a trowel, bags and hand gel (Toilets).
- A headtorch you can reach in the dark.
- A map and compass that do not depend on your phone’s battery.
- Enough warm layers for the coldest hour of the night.
- Someone knows where you are going and when you will be back.
The full kit list is on what to carry.
Campsites
Book a campsite. The National Trust runs four in the Lake District; there are plenty of others, and we do not rank them.
Each link below is the one the National Trust’s own Lake District camping page gave on 2 October 2026. Dates, prices and booking are on those pages, and we do not say whether a site has room. Distances are in a straight line from the campsite to where our route starts.
-
Great Langdale Campsite
National Trust. At the head of Great Langdale, below the Old Dungeon Ghyll.
Our routes from here
- Rossett Pike, Allen Crags, Great End and more 0.3 km, drawn, not yet walked
- Langdale Pikes Round 0.9 km
- Blea Tarn (Little Langdale) 1.7 km
-
Low Wray Campsite
National Trust. On the west shore of Windermere, near Wray Castle.
Our routes from here
- Wray Castle & the Windermere west shore 0.7 km
- Wansfell Pike and Baystones from Ambleside, 2.4 km
-
Wasdale Campsite
National Trust. In Wasdale, up the valley from the head of Wast Water.
Our routes from here
- Great Gable & Kirk Fell 0.1 km, drawn, not yet walked
- Scafell Pike from Wasdale, by Lingmell Col 0.1 km, drawn, not yet walked
- Extended Mosedale Horseshoe 1.0 km
-
Eskdale Campsite
National Trust. In Eskdale, near Boot.
Our routes from here
- Slight Side & Sca Fell 2.2 km, drawn, not yet walked
- Boat How, Illgill Head & Whin Rigg 0.6 km, drawn, not yet walked
Why there are no spots on this page
What a landowner publishes can be checked and dated, and this page does that. Whether it is enforced on a given night cannot: that varies by season, by warden and by weekend, and the surest way to end toleration somewhere is to publish it. So this page names no pitch, no tarn and no grid reference, and it never will. It is the same rule our page on sleeping in your car follows.
Frequently asked questions
Is wild camping legal in the Lake District?
Not as a right. Unlike Scotland, there is no general right to wild camp in the Lake District: the National Park Authority says it is technically not permitted without the landowner's permission. On the high fells it has long been tolerated when people camp discreetly for one night and leave nothing behind, but tolerated is not the same as allowed, and a landowner can ask you to move on.
Where can I wild camp in the Lake District?
On a campsite, or where the landowner has given you permission. Without permission, the National Trust describes what it tolerates on its own fells: above the highest fell wall, which it puts at roughly 400 m, away from towns, villages, buildings and lake shores. That is its guidance for its land, not a height above which camping is allowed. We do not publish particular spots, and we never will: a quiet place stops being quiet the day it is on a website.
Can I camp in the forests at Whinlatter or Grizedale?
No. Forestry England says it does not allow camping or overnight stays in either forest or in any of their car parks.
Can I sleep in my car or campervan in a Lake District car park?
The National Park Authority says camping in car parks or on roadside verges is not allowed at any time. That is its stated policy; car parks have different owners and operators with their own terms, so check the terms of the one you are in, and for a night, use a campsite that takes vans. Our page on sleeping in your car covers vans and cars in detail.
Can I have a campfire or a barbecue?
No. The National Park Authority says not to light any fire, the National Trust says no fires or barbecues, and Forestry England says barbecues and fires are not allowed anywhere in Grizedale (its wording on the day we checked). Use a stove, on stones or bare ground, and carry the gas canister home.
Where can I camp if I want to be sure it is allowed?
At a campsite. The National Trust runs four in the Lake District, at Langdale, Low Wray, Wasdale and Eskdale, and there are many more. The National Trust says valley, lakeshore and lowland camping is for campsites.
Sources
Each read on 23 September 2026. We re-check them every year, because this is exactly the kind of guidance that changes after a bad summer. The next check is due by 23 September 2027, or sooner if a landowner changes its guidance.